Tuesday, July 8, 2014

The One with President Mortensen

July 7, 2014

Hermana Burnham with President & Sister PingreeThey were released at the end of June, 2014.

"I wore this scarf in 10,000 degree weatherjust to be patriotic!"Hermana Burnham and Jensen

Last week we said goodbye and this week we said hello! We
met the Mortensens this week and they are fabulous! [Editor's note: President Mortensen is the new Mission President in the Texas Houston Mission.] I mean, fabulous. He is very different than
President Pingree, but wow, I can already see the amazing things that he is
going to do for the Texas Houston Mission (remember how I live in Texas . . . that's
weird.) It is him, his wife and 5 of
their 6 children. They are from the Huntington Beach, CA area. They are
ALL beautiful. Their oldest daughter just left on a mission. their youngest child is 6, I believe. They had each of the kids come up and
introduce themselves.It was so cute; I could’ve
died. The 9 and 6 year old boys (their
names are Anders and Dane and they wore matching top button anchor shirts, with
light blue khaki shorts, and Sperry’s).Seriously—the cutest thing of my life. They
are an awesome family! I am excited for
interviews this week!

Remember how I told you that a few months ago someone asked
if I was from Brazil (b/c of the way I speak, not look), and then the same thing,
but from Russia, a few weeks ago? Well, THIS week a woman in our ward was like:
"Hna, where did you learn Spanish?" I replied that I have learned here in Texas on
the mission and she was like: "Oh...you talk like you are from
Spain." AT LEAST IT WAS A SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRY THIS TIME! The greatest
day of my life will be when someone tells me I speak Spanish like a Mexican. Vive Mexico! The three most common comments I get:
"Your Spanish is different..." Thanks, so I have been told. I can’t
control how much I roll my r's.If I
could, I would! "You look really tired." Yes, I know; that's because I AM really
tired. "Have we met before, you
look really familiar?" Yes, in the
pre-existance.I would love to teach you
more about that...

We had a good week. Being a missionary is so exciting! We
had the chance to talk with a suicidal man over the phone.He found a pass-along card we had given him
weeks ago (we literally talked to him for like 30 seconds and invited him to
play volleyball with us) and decided to call us in his moment of need. It was a
touching conversation I was able to have with him over the phone. It is a good
reminder to know that it is those little acts of daily kindness that really
make the biggest difference.

Do something nice for someone today.

Oh, and call the families you visit and home teach, just to
say hello.